


Like Their Hymn Has Healing Power

by RebelMage



Category: Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:49:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27302953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelMage/pseuds/RebelMage
Summary: Death can be warded off for one more day. Oh, Corellon guard them all, may death be warded off for one more day.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Like Their Hymn Has Healing Power

**Author's Note:**

> A Halloween gift for a gift exhange on a Discord server I'm in! ♥

Death is cold and uncaring. It is greedy and takes without prejudice. It is inevitable.

These are some of the things Mîllith has learnt so far. So many faces have come and gone, and they will continue to come and go. Especially the shorter-lived folk: she has seen them age and die before her very eyes. She remembers despairing over this when she was younger, but with age comes acceptance.

Still, though the talons of death may be inevitable, that does not mean you have to accept when a soul is taken too soon. Death can be warded off for one more day. Oh, Corellon guard them all, may death be warded off for one more day.

_“You’re sure you’re all right?” Mîllith worries, looking at Liss, whose hand often seems to wander to the right side of her face._

_“Yeah, it’s just… Well, just feeling all asymmetrical now, you know?”_

_“If you continually charge in, you’re bound to get a couple of blows to your face. You’re lucky you didn’t suffer anything worse!”_

_“Hey, someone’s got to protect the pretty faces around here, and I’ll do so with my own face if I have to.” The wink brings a smile to Mîllith’s face. “Besides, got you to patch me up, miss cleric, don’t I? But you’re sure you can’t, like, regrow it?”_

_“I can mend broken bones, not regrow ones that have been lost.”_

_“It’s a tooth, not a bone.”_

_“Pretty sure they’re the same thing. But if you want to learn more about anatomy, don’t ask me; ask the wizard.”_

_“Ugh, no, thanks. It’s not_ his _anatomy I’m interested in.” At that, Liss pulls her over, nearly making Mîllith stumble, to pull her into her lap. A soft kiss follows, and Mîllith leans her forehead against Liss’s, her eyes closed as she enjoys the closeness and warmth._

_“I’m glad to be your subject of interest, then.”_

_“Hmm.” A calloused hand strokes Mîllith’s cheek, and she is pulled in for another kiss. And another. “Hey, maybe I’ll get a replacement, then. Made of gold!”_

_“How positively gaudy.”_

_“They’ll call me Goldtusk. A fine title.”_

_“Sounds more like a pirate name than that of an honourable adventurer.”_

_“Well, I’ve never pretended to be honourable.”_

_“I’ll say.”_

The temple is quiet. The sound of the city is distant, almost muted. Muted, just like the rest of Mîllith’s surroundings. She looks at the wall, because she doesn’t dare to look – doesn’t dare to look elsewhere.

_Breathe._

The others are outside. Outside, gathering… materials. Materials, ingredients… A diamond. Large, expensive, probably very rare.

_Breathe._

But they’ll find it. They will.

_Breathe._

Everything is going to be fine.

_“So, you’re… Millie, right?” The stranger she’d helped approaches her, flagging down the bartender for a round of drinks._

_“Mîllith, but Millie’s fine, I suppose.”_

_“Ah, sorry, overheard someone call for you, but was a bit distracted by…”_

_“By the amount of blood that was no longer inside your body?”_

_The tall orc lady laughs heartily. “Yeah, suppose that’s one way of putting it. Thanks for patching me up, by the way!”_

_“What did the guy do that was so upsetting, anyway?”_

_“It’s more what he didn’t do. He’d hired us, me and my party, to take care of some business for him. An investment of him gone a bit wrong, would be a good description. Anyway, the mission didn’t go according to plan, so he refused to pay us. But he didn’t tell us about the necromancer! It’s his fault, really. We did what we could.”_

_“And you thought your fists would be the best way to persuade him to… cough up the gold?”_

_“My fists can be very persuasive. Should’ve known he had a guard, but, hey, things turned out all right, and it was fun.”_

_“Getting beaten up is fun? Well, I’m not going to shame you for your interests, I suppose.”_

_“It’s the thrill of battle! But, well, I didn’t come here just to thank you. You see, we needed that gold. And now that we’re not getting it, we had to take on a… tougher quest. More dangerous. Was wondering if you wanted to come along, maybe? We could use someone who could heal.”_

_“I… I don’t know. I’ve got a duty to my temple; I’m a priest of Corellon Larethian. But…”_

_“Hey, you can think it over a bit, and it’s fine if you don’t want to. We have to leave tomorrow, so just… Show up if you want to?”_

Liss. Mîllith strokes her hair. It was matted before from the blood, but someone washed it out. Everything’s a bit of a daze. It was almost impossible to sleep, but she knew she had to. She can’t perform the ritual without a bit of rest, first. To fall asleep without her was so cold, so lonely.

Still, if everything goes correctly, that won’t be a problem anymore. Nights will be warm once more.

Everyone is quiet as she draws the circle. Precise movements are necessary. She has to start over several times, erase it all, because her hands shake too much. She offers a quick prayer to Corellon to guide her in this time of need before continuing. There’s candle and incense – she doesn’t think she can smell that particular smell anymore and not think of this moment.

Then, everything is set.

She sits down.

Breathes.

_A line of lightning courses along the ground, and Mîllith only barely gets out of the way in time. A short burst of static energy still zaps through her body, and she nearly drops her shield. The short moment of distraction allows the dragon to get up close to her, and she tries to get her shield up in time to stop the large claw from reaching –_

_Liss’s axe strikes the claw, and the large beast roars in anger. Mîllith scrambles back, rushes to Kipper’s side, who wasn’t as quick in dodging. He fires off a ray of frost before Mîllith lays her hands on him, channelling Corellon’s energy to revitalise him. Then, she channels the energy into a more destructive direction, and as she points at the dragon, a bright little streak erupts from it, heading in the direction of the monster. On impact, it explodes into a burst of fire, and the dragon once more roars angrily._

_“Why did it have to be lightning?” Liss curses, the storm raging around her ineffective against their mighty foe. Still, she returns a roar nearly as mighty as the dragon’s and slashes, slashes, slashes._

An hour can be a long time when you’re waiting. It can be a short time when you’re working.

This hour is both long and short, as paradoxical as time can be.

And Mîllith breathes.

Why is it that a tragedy like this is what makes her feel closer to Corellon than she’s ever been? It’s like she feels their essence around her. When she lays a hand on Liss’s forehead, she almost feels another hand on top of hers.

She feels more alive than she’s ever felt. She feels happy and sad at the same time, angry and scared and so, so painfully hopeful. She feels like she’s bursting at the seams and she has to close her eyes, the world too much for her fragile state.

And then, she can feel it.

At first, it’s nearly timid. Like a candle flickering on a moonless night. But it doesn’t take long before it’s stronger. A storm, a storm inside her mind. No, not inside _her_ mind, but next to it. Not physical, yet intimately close.

A soul.

Liss’s soul.

_Oh, how beautiful,_ she thinks. It’s the closest she’s ever been, and part of her wishes she could lay her soul bare next to it, conjoin the two of them into a state where neither is an individual anymore and they’re just blissfully, blissfully together.

She knows that cannot be, though. It would be an abomination, though a cruelly wonderful one. So, gently, she guides the soul. Channels it with her body – for a moment, she does feel as one – through her hand, her fingers, into the body lying on the ground.

Then, she opens her eyes.

She doesn’t know when she started crying, but she becomes aware of the teardrops staining her cheeks. She feels, all of a sudden, emptier than ever – though she soon realises it’s only relative, as Corellon’s presence and Liss’s soul are no longer there to keep her company.

Mîllith breathes.

Liss breathes.

The world becomes loud again.

Still, the other keep their distance, and Mîllith kneels next to Liss. Helps her sit up.

Liss takes stock of her surroundings for a moment. Seems to take a moment to put together everything that’s happened. Then, she looks at Mîllith. “Millie, you look dreadful.”

They both laugh. Everything is fine.


End file.
